Tarzana Medical Atrium Built During Pandemic

TARZANA MEDICAL BUILDING HAS 14 PERCENT VACANCY LEFT TO FILL.

Medical Asset Management, led by Mitch Yankowitz and Jeffrey Cunningham, completed construction on its Tarzana medical office building after nearly two years — right in the middle of stay-at-home orders and spiking cases of COVID-19.

Although Yankowitz considered the situation “a challenge,” the developers were lucky enough to be considered essential under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order.

“We got what’s called a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building on April 24, so that last four to six weeks were kind of tricky,” said Yankowitz. “It’s a medical office, and even construction was considered an essential service, so we were able to keep our contractor there, the city inspectors there, even though everyone was certainly working with social distancing in mind, and masks.”

The three-story, 90,000-square-foot Tarzana Medical Atrium, located at 5411 Etiwanda Ave., is across the street from Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center and counts both health care giants among its tenants.

“We do know that Providence is in plan check to put in a cancer infusion center on the ground floor; that’s going to be the first service they’re going to open,” Yankowitz explained. “Cedars is still working with their user groups to determine what services exactly are going to be in the building. I’m hoping we’ll know better in the next 90 days.”

Other tenants include Medical Asset Management, which decided to add an office for itself in the West Valley region; Encino-based Center for Neuro Skills; and Courtyard Pharmacy in Calabasas.

The atrium has 14 percent vacancy left, Yankowitz said, and he plans to fill out the building with a tenant mix based around the nearby hospital.

“We want to make sure we put doctors in that are going to serve the community and will work well with the hospital,” Yankowitz noted. “There are some landlords out there that will put any tenant in there, even if they compete with the hospital. We look at the hospital as our strategic partner, so we’ve worked hard building that relationship over many, many years.”

In the event of a second COVID-19 wave, Providence may use its atrium space as overflow, Yankowtz said.

“It was something that was discussed, should the hospital need it, because they have leased half the ground floor,” added Yankowitz. “We’ve been keeping in communication with our business contacts at Providence, should that be needed.”

SOURCE: San Fernando Valley Business Journal, Amy Stulick